Pioneer Venus 1 was the first spacecraft to map the surface of Venus (right).

Though it found Venus to be generally smoother than Earth, it found a mountain 2 km (about one mile) higher than Mt. Everest and a canyon about 1.1 km (about 2/3 of a mile) deeper than the Grand Canyon.

The International Astronomical Union named almost all of the features discovered by Pioneer Venus 1 and subsequent missions after historical or mythological women.

People Spotlight

Charles Hall"Charlie Hall's Pioneer 10 craft may be billions of miles from Earth, but his spirit will always be with us at NASA."